It Still Hurts But Im Okay
by Lovemeaviva
Summary: When Zane asks Pixal to marry him, certian people aren't too happy. Rated T for swearing starting in C 3. Thanks, Ronin.
1. Chapter 1

**OKAY! This is my first One Shot, I hope you like it! (please no hate, please)**

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><p>The song plays over and over again in my head. Unable to leave where it's been placed. Is it not true that love is hard, and that it may never work? Remembering the times I thought I had found love, I was surely wrong. <em>Come on Skinny Love what happened here?<em> The question reigns true to me. "If all the love was wasted than who the hell was I?" I sing quietly. "My my my- my my my- my my my- my my. Come one Skinny Love." I continue to sing.

I hear knocking, and I ignore the sound.

_"Come on Skinny Love, just last a year! Pour a little salt we were never here. My my my- my my my- my my my- my my. Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer. _

_"I tell my love to wreck it all, to cut the ropes and let me fall. My my my- my my my- my my my- my my. Right the moments this orders tall. And I told you to be patient and I told you to be fine."_ I continue to sing as the knocking grows louder.

Finally though I stand, and answer the door. "What do you want Zane?" I say unknowing to whom it really was.

"I am not Zane. I am Pixal. The Primar-" I stop her.

"Save it Pixal." I shoot angrily "Now, what do you want?" I snap.

She handed me an envelope with great detail in black and teal. I raise my eyebrows. I have an idea as to what this is. I sigh. "Thank you. I'll read it." I say.

I notice a pretty little ring clasped to Pixal's artificial skin. I manage a fake smile, and close the door again. "Fantastic." I mutter.

I slide down against the door, and open the envelope, careful not to rip it. Inside there is a primly folded and nicely decorated letter. It read:

_Dear Skailar,_

_You have been invited to the wedding of Zane Julien and Pixal Borg. We hope to see you there._

_~Happily Zane._

I refold the note, and put it back in the envelope. I let out a sigh, and just sit there. I should have seen it comming. But I guess my vision was to blurred by hope that Zane would come back for me. Love hurts. I had to learn it the hard way.


	2. Chapter 2 Shirako and Stitches

**Know what? Screw it! I'm going to keep going with this story. Hope you like it! Note that I've changed Skailar a little since the last time I wrote anything. I think I want her to be a medic sort of thing. You know, use her element and be able to like make medicine with plants she grew with her element? Yeah, that's what it is. ALSO BEFORE YOU FLAME ME FOR BASHING PIXAL AND ZANE JUST KNOW: I LOVE THE PIXANE PARING!**

**Chapter 2. **

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><p>I walked along a nearly empty street. It was almost dark now and freezing in the middle of December. I listened to the crunching of snow beneath my feet and kept myself alert just in case there was trouble. I was still overwrought about Pixal and Zane's engagement but I tried not to be mad at them for it. Even after Zane was rebuilt, Pixal had to be. Cyrus took care of that matter. This time, he left out her AIE-ES chip and gave her an AEE chip that enhanced her emotions. She's much more human now. Other things about Pixal were changed. The violet wires that were once visible on her skin are no longer. Her eyes are a blueish-green color now instead of just green. She's a little taller now that I think of it. I kept walking. I'd been out of the Bounty for maybe six or seven hours now. No doubt Lloyd was having a panic attack about it. I'm not out of the Bounty very often so me being out by myself for so long in the middle of winter was probably scary to him. That's alright though, now he knows how I felt the first nineteen years of my life. He'll be fine, I thought. Just fine.<p>

Just then I heard steady crunching of snow behind me. I didn't think anything of it until I heard someone say something. I didn't quite catch what they heard but I can sure say that I didn't feel too great about it. I leaned down just a touch and pulled a nine inch Ka-Ba knife from my high boots. I kept walking and as I did, the footsteps got closer and more rapid. I took the knife out of it's sheath and put it back in my boot, holding my knife tightly. When the footsteps got too close for comfort, I tuned and swiped my blade. I heard a low cry of pain and someone yell my name. When I realized who was behind me, I felt like the biggest idiot in the entire universe. "What the Hell, Skailar!" Cole yelled.

"Oh my gosh! Cole, I'm so, so, so, so, _so _sorry!" I said rushing up to him. He covered his forearm with his hand. "I-I thought you were a thief or rapist or something! Why didn't you yell at me or something?"

"Sorry." Cole said "I didn't think of it."

"Well as one of the lesser idiots in this group, I figured you would have." I said quietly. "Let me see it." I said trying to move his hand. Cole complied and moved his hand. What was waiting behind it didn't faze me but made Cole shutter. "Hm. Lotta blood." I Said. I looked a little closer. "It's not _that _deep but I'll probably have to stitch it up." I said. I bent over and grabbed a huge handful of snow. "Here. Hold that on there till we get home, alright?"

"Yeah, sure." Cole said. "But you owe me."

"Shut it, I'll buy ya' cake." I said tiredly.

"Seriously!?"

"Yeah, now be quiet." Skailar said. "But which way's the bounty?"

Cole waved his hand, motioning for her to follow. "Come on." I followed Cole and for a few moments, nothing was said. "You can't avoid it."

"Huh?" I said dumbly. "Avoid what?"

"Pixal and Zane." Cole said. "You know that. This isn't you."

"Well it wasn't like Zane to ditch me for Pixal... But the thing is, their _love _is irrational. They hardly know one another. Love takes work and more importantly, time. None of that's happened."

"Destiny does that." Cole said with a smile.

"And so does stupidity."

"**Skailar.**" Cole said warningly. I didn't reply. I didn't really want to talk about them since that was what I was trying to get away from. Sadly, it follows me everywhere. Zane and I aren't even friends anymore because of it. It sucks but hey _destiny._ Yeah I hate it too. I watched the snow as it fell more heavily, I breathed in the freezing air. "Hey," I jumped when Cole laid a hand on my shoulder. "Cheer up. You're boring when you're upset."

"Yeah... Why were you the only one who came looking for me?"

"Well Jay was supposed to come too, but he started complaining about the cold and snow."

"And Lloyd?"

"A mess."

"Over six hours?"

"Six?" Cole scoffed. "It's been fifteen at the very _least_. I've been looking for you since..." He paused to do the math. "Okay, it's 7:00 A.M. now and I've been looking for you since 10:00 last night... Nine! Nine hours I've been looking for you."

For a few moments we were absolutely silent. It was awkward and I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing. I just watched the snow fall. The snow was falling much faster and heavier. I would have loved the snow if I wasn't so cold. "Thank you." I said breaking the long silence.

"Hm?"

"I said thank you." I said. "For coming to find me."

"Eh, no problem."

"Yeah right, you had a date thing with Nya tonight."

"Yeah, _did._" Cole said with a face of weak sadness.

"Oh great. What'd you do?" I said mockingly.

"Nothing!" Cole said.

"Okay, sure." I said with a little smile. "So what happened?"

"We got in a big fight and broke up."

"Ha, so much for 'perfect match' Cyrus the genius failed!"

Cole chuckled. "I think that that thing was just for fun."

"Yeah, probably." I said. "But seriously, sorry bout that, that sucks."

"Meh, she's way more work than I thought she was." Cole sighed. "She's cool and all but we really aren't as good a mach as I thought we'd be."

"It happens. I know exactly what that's like."

"Oh Skailar, enough of that!"

"I'm pissed off okay!" I Laughed. "I can't help it."

"Seriously change the topic."

"Alright, alright. Chill yo' butt."

For the rest of the way home, we were silent. That is until we got back. "Guys! I'm back, I found her!"

In less than four seconds, Lloyd was out there with us hugging me and yelling that he was so scared and how thankful he was to Cole for bringing his sister back. "Oh boy." I said pushing Lloyd off me.

"Where were you?" Lloyd asked like he was dad.

"Out." I said dully.

"That's not an answer!"

"Why do you care anyway! I'm not your younger sister and it's not your job to look after me!"

"Yes it is!"

I groaned and pushed past my brother. "Come on, Cole let's fix your shoulder!" I called without turning around.

I heard a single pair of footsteps following me. I snatched a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a needle from my room and continued on. I walked to the lower deck and went to the very last room on the left. "Sit." I told Cole.

He did as told and sat down. "I can't believe you cut through my coat and uniform." Cole said. "These are expensive!"

"Well that's what happens when you scare a kunoichi who thinks a rapist is following her." I retorted.

"Fair." Cole said.

I scrubbed my hands clean and put on a pair of latex gloves. Then I dipped the thread and needle in the rubbing alcohol. Then I got a cotton ball and dipped _it _in rubbing alcohol. "Take off your coat and the top of your uniform." Once more, Cole did as I asked.

I walked over to him and lightly dabbed it on Cole's wound. Instantly he pulled his arm away. I glared at him. "What! It hurts!"

"Well it'll hurt more if you don't stop moving."

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry."

"Hai, yurusa." I murmured.

I dabbed the wound again and he pulled away again. "Cole!" I snapped.

"Sorry!" With that I lost patience and streaked the cotton ball across the gash. "Ow!"

"Sakihodo mo iimashita!" I said angrily throwing the cotton ball away.

"No pain killer?"

"No, someone keeps taking it whenever they get the smallest stomach ache!" I glared at Cole.

"I have a low pain threshold, okay!"

"I know. Trust me."

"You don't have to get so mad about it."

"I'm losing my patience here! Just don't say anything or move!"

Cole did his best to do as I said but he still did poorly. After about four hours, I was done and I gave him some pain medicine and told him that when he slept he could not sleep on his right shoulder or he'd tear his stitches.

After that I had to make dinner. I already knew what I was going to make. I'd been saving up for weeks because of preparation. Cooking is one of the few things that genuinely make me happy. I was going to make sushi. It doesn't take too long to make in my case because I used to make it a lot with Wu growing up. I bought four salmon fillets, three tuna ones, some whale meat and a little special ingredient for shirako. Sadly the part of Ninjago we're in right now isn't really known for fish so it was really expensive. I even bought shrimp so that didn't help either. On the upside the wasabi here is cheap. Hope it's good wasabi and not the crap kind from the Rowstad region of Ninjago. Anyway, all together it all cost 10,000 yen! But it'll be worth it.

Jay and I set the table and placed all of the things I had made on the table. We arranged the plates with the sushi and put plates where everyone usually sat. I counted off in my head. _Lloyd... Kai... Jay... Wu... Cole... Zane... Dad _And everything was ready. Jay fetched everyone and while he did so, I put one shirako on everyone's plate. I didn't know if any of the guys had eaten it, but dad, Wu and I had. We liked it well enough but we have a few picky eaters aboard the Destiny's Bounty so I want to see what they think of it. I decided to be nice and put something off to the side of the dish so that they could get rid of the taste quickly.

Dad and Lloyd were the first people to come in. "Ah! Konbanwa! Ani-Chan, Otosan!" I said happily seeing them.

Dad looked around me. "Did you make all this? Skailar I hope it tastes as good as it looks."

"I'm fairly confident that it's good. Wu and I used to make things like this a lot." I said.

"It looks awesome." Lloyd said, I could tell he was eager to eat.

I nodded. "Go on, sit. I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Lloyd asked.

"I'm changing into something more comfortable." And with that I rushed off to my room. I changed into one of my duller kimono and tied my hair back. I do this all the time as I'm very enveloped in my family's culture.

The kimono was pretty dull. It was a pale shade of gray with a white flower pattern across the bottom. Nothing special. I came back and sat in the only open place left, between Jay and my uncle. "Are we all here?" My dad asked.

Yes, everyone was here. Kai, Cole, Jay, Zane, Lloyd, Dad, my uncle, Nya, me and Pixal. "So what's on our plates already?" Cole asked.

"This is a special sushi called shirako." I answered picking one of each sushi from it's platter. I caught the minute smiles of amusement from my father and my uncle. They knew what I had done and what I wanted to happen.

"Is it any good?" Jay asked picking it up.

"I think so." I answered. "My dad and uncle like it too." I said. "Itadakimasu." I said putting my hands together like I was praying.

Zane picked up the small sushi with his chopsticks and examined it. He then ate it and didn't seem fazed. I picked a nigirizushi with salmon neta, my favorite, and ate it. I'd put a sweet Hamata mayonnaise over it and oh... It was perfect. Then I picked up the shirako. I ate it and it tasted the same as I last tried it. I saw Jay pick up the shirako and eat it. For a few moments he seemed fine but then I saw him gag. I did my best not to laugh and just kept eating. "What was that? That was horrible!"

"I'll tell you once everyone has eaten it." I said picking another nigirizushi, this time with tuna!

The next one to try it was Kai. I didn't think much would happen with that because Kai would eat anything. He didn't put out as big of a reaction as Jay but it was obvious that he didn't like it. "I've had worse but that is _bad_." He said looking at me with either anger or disgust.

My uncle and I glanced at one another and exchanged little smiles. "What's on it?" Cole asked.

"I'll tell you all once you've tried it." I said watching Nya eat it.

"Hm. Not that bad." She said.

"See, not so horrible." I said.

Then I picked it up and ate it. It didn't faze me at all even though I knew what was in it. Then I ate a few futomaki. I got full all too quickly and I was really sad about it but for some reason, seafood has always filled me up quickly. I waited for everyone else to eat their food. Cole was the very last one to try shirako and the look he gave when he tried it was absolutely priceless. He almost spit it out and he had to swallow it twice because the first time it came back up. By this time, dad, Wu and I were laughing a bit. "Okay, what is that! I have to know." Cole said. "It's almost as bad as the stuff I cook!"

"Shirako has the sperm sack of a fish in it." Dad said.

With that Cole got up immediately and rushed off. Jay had a look of shock on his face. "That's horrible, why would you make us eat it?" Lloyd said.

"No one made you eat it Lloyd. You chose to do it all on your own." I said with a bit of laughter.

Lloyd shook his head and sighed. "I assume that killed off your appetite?" Dad asked everyone.

"Yep." Everyone said together.

Dad, Wu and I laughed together. It was the first time in a while I felt happy. Sadly, it was short lived. Sadness always waits until night. I was sad once more and I just wanted it to go away.


	3. Chapter 3

heh, sorry for not writing for ages, but I couldn't think about anything to write for the TOE (heh Tournament of Elements) season, so I skipped right on over to the Ghost Season. Sorry, but I'm not sorry. Also, I think Ronin drops the F-bomb a few times and calls Skailar bee-otch. So don't get upset. I friggin warned you.

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><p>"So this is the place that guy was talking about?" A voice jolted me out of my thoughts.<p>

I turned around to see a man. He looked very rugged, like he'd seen his fair share of trouble. He had the scratchy beginnings of a beard and a covered eye. He wore a chest plate and other sorts of armor. Under that, were fitting clothes that hugged his body. "What are you staring at?" He said in a low voice.

"Forgive me." I said quietly. "There just aren't too many people around here that look quite like you." I felt stupid for not recognizing him sooner. It took me until the end of this conversation to remember who the heck the guy was!

He didn't answer me with anything more than a nod. He looked all around him, examining every inch of the tea house. "You work here?" He asked.

"Y-yes." I said.

"Alright then, I can work with that." He said.

At that point, I started getting a little nervous. "Why do you ask?"

"I just need to know everything I can about this place now that I own it."

"_What_?" I spat out. "You don't own this place! Wu does! Who are you?"

He ignored me completely. "Good size, fair amount of land. Good for growing..."

"You didn't answer my question!" I snapped storming up to him. "_Who_ are you!"

"Let's just say I'm your new boss."

"Misako!" I yelled.

At my call, Misako came running. "What is it?"

"This guy!" I said pointing to the man. "He keeps saying that he owns this place, and that he's in charge!"

"Pardon me, sir, but who are you?"

"I've just become a major share holder of this sorry place. I own more of this place than you," He said pointing to me. "You," He motioned to Misako. "And the owner _combined_."

"We were never selling shares! The only people who had shares were K-" I paused mid sentence, seeing a pleased look on his face. "Who gave you those shares!"

"Well your red ninja was in quite a tight spot. I offered to help him. As you know, nothing in life is free."

"Misako, go get Sensei." Misako immediately did as told. She came back with Wu, and Nya following close behind her.

I rolled my eyes when he tried to tell us how to run our shop. "Your first problem is the opening of a tea shop in the middle of the dry season! Water's at a premium! And then there's the name. Pfft, Steep Wisdom? More like Steep Debt. You need a name with pizzazz like Curiosi-Tea or Shake Your Boo-Tea. Huh, these names are coming right off the top of my head."

"Who is this strange fellow?" Wu asked.

Misako shrugged. The look on her face was a dead give away that she'd had enough of him. "This place is a cluttered mess."

"Excuse me, but if you're not a customer, what are you doing in our shop?"

"You mean my shop." He said smugly.

"What?" Nya said dumbfounded.

"Oh right, they must not have told you."

"Never told us what?" I asked on edge.

"Name's Ronin. And Since I'm the majority share holder, I'm your new business partner." Nya and I exchanged worried glances. "When the Ninja couldn't get the Scroll of Who-watsu, the red one was about to die, in a pretty big mess with strangle weed, and so I gave him a price, he accepted. Gave me all of his shares, Jay's shares, Zane's shares, Cole's shares and someone named Skailar's shares."

"Kai gave you my shares?! When that boy gets back, I'm going to rip him one he won't forget! He'll be so sick, he won't be able to breathe!"

Ronin looked at me like I was nuts, but unless someone really understood what I did, they would think I was crazy. "They didn't get the Scroll of Airjitsu!" Nya said in terror.

"Don't worry, I told them about another possible way to get it." Ronin said calmly.

"How else could they get it?" I asked.

Ronin looked at me, his dark eyes staring into my soul. "Never heard of Yang's Haunted Temple?" I shook my head.

"Well if this is for real-"

"Which it is." Ronin butt in.

"Then you and Nya should keep training, Sensei. Misako and I can manage." I said.

Sensei agreed and he and Nya left to continue training. "Skailar, did you ever finish organizing the tea?" Misako asked.

I shook my head. "Sorry, I got interrupted." I said nodding my head toward Ronin.

"That's fine. Just get that done soon. There's a lot to do around here now that we have a guest."

I nodded. "Don't worry, I'll get him situated. And I'll get my job done. Now that I have shares, I have to make money somehow." With that, Misako left.

"No real need to make me comfortable. I've got R.E.X." Ronin said. "Thanks though."

I nodded. "Are you sure? We have some rooms we aren't using."

"Well we're awfully kind now. What's different about me than three seconds ago?"

"Well now that I see you're not just trying to pester us, I guess I should be hospitable. Even if you are a thief who's probably come to cheat us out of all we have."

"You-"

"Yeah, I remember. But what can I do? Kai's an idiot, not the best negotiator. What's done is done."

Ronin nodded. "Yeah, I've seen bad negotiation, and then there's Kai."

"Get out of here an make yourself useful if you're going to stay. We don't have time for slackers." I said jokingly shooing him away.

"That's the right attitude when you're around here."

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><p>Tonight would have been Zane's night to make dinner, but what with Lloyd's trouble and possession, I would have to manage. "Thanks, Skailar. I would have done it, but I'm so tired." Nya said resting her hand on my shoulder.<p>

"No problem." I said with a smile. "Training to become a kunoich has to be hard. Go eat, I have some things to do yet." I said.

Nya smiled back, and went to sit down. Even now, I still hadn't finished organizing tea boxes. I went back to the front desk and moved box after box to it's proper place. "Earl grey goes here... Indian Chai. Maybe I should just take this one." I said to myself. I quickly put it in it's place and kept going. "Rose hip tea, at the bottom, bancha, fukashimi, oolong tea..." After about forty-five minutes, I had finished my job.

By that time, I had a bit of time to eat before I had to do other things, like sweeping, washing the windows and things like that. So I sat down and ate. I made some sort of food that Kai had been wanting me to make forever. It was bok choy, and I had to admit, it was really good. I counted off all the things I had to do in my head. I never thought that this would be so much work on my part. A loud thumping knocked me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Ronin kicking the dirt off his boots, and then walking inside. "So, was I right? Healthy plants, yes?"

"I've got to admit, you were right. That's a stab to my ego, let me tell you."

"Eh, not a bad thing I say." I mumble picking up my bowl and taking it to a sink at the back of the shop to wash it.

"Oh, uh, hey! Can you take a look at something real quick? I got into a bit of a fight with some sort of porcupine out there."

"Yeah, just give me a second." I put my bowl away, and led Ronin to a small room at the back of the shop. "So where'd it get you?"

"My left calf." I looked around his side to see, and there was a bit of obvious blood.

"Do you want to pull that leg up so I can see it a bit better."

He shrugged and did as told. And the moment I saw it, I knew it sure as heck was no porcupine that got him. I shook my head. "You've got to be a dumb one to tangle with a nkaug. Do you know how venomous those things are!"

"Nope. Never even heard of that thing."

I rolled my eyes. "I've got about... Ten minutes to get the venom out of you before you go into cardiac arrest. And die."

Never in my life had I ever seen a look of such fear. It was genuine, and it was like nothing like I'd ever seen. His breathing got really shallow and quick. "Ronin. Ronin!" I said snapping him out of his panic state. "I was kidding."

At that moment, a look of anger so hot it could burn Kai spread across his face. "You what! You were messing with me."

"I figure you owe me something for nearly destroying everything I love."

"You have no fucking clue!" Ronin yelled. "You have no idea what would happen to me if I die! You ignorant little bitch!"

"Hey! You're not dead! So why worry about it!"

"Fuck you." Ronin spat leaving me dumbfounded where I sat. "Fuck you and all you love! Should have killed you when I had the chance!"

I had no idea why he'd gotten so upset. I must have hit a soft spot. I sure as heck didn't know that his fear of death was so great. 'he'll get over it. He bounces back faster than Jay', I told myself to try and avoid guilt. But like always, it got me. It always did.


End file.
